Skin cancer is diagnosed in 200,000 people a year, and about 70,000 of them die. According to statistics, these numbers continue to skyrocket. Based on this, we can conclude that the existing methods of treating the disease are not effective enough. To save thousands of lives, it is necessary to create and implement other ways to fight cancer. So, a fundamentally new method is immunotherapy for melanoma. This will be discussed below.
First you need to figure out what kind of disease it is, why it occurs and how it is currently being treated.
Disease concept
Melanoma is a cancer of the skin that arises from pigment cells. These cells are responsible for the production of melanin in the body - a natural pigment of dark color. The color type of a person depends on its quantitative content in the body.
Melanoma occurs in half of the cases on the legs, in 1/3 - on the arms and torso, the rest occurs on the neck and face.
About 65% of all tumors are a reborn mole.
Causesmelanomas
The most common cause of tumor development is exposure to ultraviolet radiation. About 90% of all diseases are caused by this factor. Excessively long exposure to the sun without protection for the skin, as well as frequent visits to solariums, can serve as an impetus for the onset of a malignant process in the body
The hereditary factor also plays a significant role. People whose first-line relatives (parents, siblings) suffered from cancer are at risk. They especially need to carefully monitor their he alth and regularly undergo preventive medical examinations
Treatment methods
The main methods of anticancer therapy are of three types:
- Surgical operation. The priority method of therapy at all stages of the disease, when the tumor is still operable. Under general anesthesia, the surgeon performs a wide excision of the neoplasm with the capture of he althy tissues. This is done in order to prevent the development of relapse. In addition, not only the skin is removed, but also fatty and muscle tissue, as well as ligaments and others.
- Chemotherapy. It can be prescribed as the main method of treatment or in addition to surgery. These drugs have anti-cancer activity and are able to destroy the tumor. The most commonly used agents are Cisplatin, Karmustine, Vincristine.
- Radiation therapy. This method is widely used in oncological practice, and skin cancer- not an exception. By influencing the tumor with gamma rays, it is possible to deprive it of its ability to grow and reproduce. Radiation therapy can be used at all stages of the disease, up to stage 4. As a rule, the patient is assigned several courses in a row with short breaks between them.
Forecast
Despite the availability of different treatments for melanoma, the prognosis of patients is not very favorable, and people continue to die from cancer.
High survival rate only in the first (95%) and second (75%) stages.
At the third stage, when the tumor has metastasized to the regional lymph nodes, half of the patients manage to defeat the insidious disease. If several lymph nodes are affected at once, only one in four survives.
At the last stage, when secondary malignant lesions have affected even distant organs, the prognosis is extremely unfavorable (mortality reaches 92%).
All this makes scientists and doctors look for new ways to fight malignant diseases.
Thus, the method of immunotherapy of a sick organism has become fundamentally new. The main advantage is the possibility of treatment at any stage of the disease.
Immunotherapy for melanoma. What is it?
Immunotherapy is the treatment of a cancer patient with the use of drugs that have the ability to correct immunity, that is, the body's defenses. All this allows you to stop the growth of the tumor, as well as prevent its occurrence.relapses.
Due to the fact that the method is just beginning to be introduced into medicine, it is difficult to unambiguously answer whether immunotherapy is effective for melanoma. However, the statistics that are available now confirm the high anticancer activity of these drugs.
Like any other treatment, immunotherapy drugs for melanoma can cause a number of unwanted side effects. However, they are not as pronounced as with chemotherapy.
These include:
- Nausea, vomiting.
- Pain in the abdomen.
- Slight numbness of limbs.
- Convulsions.
- Depression, apathy.
And is it worth paying attention to side effects if taking the drug can save a life?
A large number of drugs used for the immune treatment of cancer have been discovered, but in the immunotherapy of melanoma, such drugs are most often used, the main active ingredients of which are interferon-alpha and interleukin-2.
Interferon-alpha
Its use is especially advisable after surgery to remove the main tumor. Immunotherapy with interferon for melanoma helps prevent recurrence and spread of metastases.
The drug has a number of functions:
- Suppresses the process of proliferation (division) of malignant cells.
- Prevents the inclusion of he althy cells and tissues in the tumor, thereby stopping its growth.
- Responsible for the activation of immune cells. Such as:
- macrophages - responsible for capturing anddestruction of any foreign and toxic cells;
- T-lymphocytes - activate cellular and humoral immunity.
This remedy is most relevant for immunotherapy for stage 2 melanoma, as well as at the very beginning of the disease.
The treatment regimen and dosing regimen are selected only by the oncologist on an individual basis for each patient. However, any interferon regimen has one thing in common - first, large dosages are prescribed for the first four weeks, then the amount of the drug is reduced to maintenance values.
The drug is effective in the treatment of skin cancer of any kind. In particular, immunotherapy for epithelioid melanoma with interferon-based products significantly increases the patient's chances of a full recovery.
Due to high dosages, a person develops a number of side effects, which were mentioned above. Therefore, therapy of a cancer patient with interferon is carried out only in a hospital and under the supervision of a specialist. After the main course, the patient, as a rule, is prescribed long-term treatment with the drug in maintenance dosages. In this case, you can continue treatment at home.
Interferon-alpha for the treatment of melanoma is produced under the trade name "Intron A". This drug is manufactured by the Belgian pharmaceutical company Schering-Plough Labo N. V. and will cost the buyer about 7,000-11,000 rubles per pack.
There are also similar drugs: "Realdiron","Reaferon", "Laferon" and the like.
Interleukin-2
A unique drug that has shown its effectiveness at all stages of the disease. Therefore, "Interleukin-2" can be prescribed to patients with the fourth stage of cancer.
The active substance of the drug is a protein that is synthesized by lymphocytes. "Interleukin" promotes the production of killer cells that recognize and destroy malignant agents. As a result, the malignant tumor decreases in size and loses the ability to metastasize.
In the modern pharmaceutical market, the product is available in the form of several trade names that differ from each other in composition. In addition to interleukin, they contain:
- microorganisms E.coli - "Bioleukin", "Teceleukin", "Proleukin";
- yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae - "Roncoleukin", "Albuleikin".
The cost of the drug is also high and depends on the dosage. For example, "Roncoleukin" costs from 2000-7000 rubles for one package with three ampoules.
All drugs have one thing in common - they contribute to the production of cytokines, proteins, in the absence of which the immune system is not able to fight the malignant process.
Features of immunotherapy
- The use of this treatment method can only be prescribed by an oncologist.
- Immunotherapy canbe prescribed only after a series of examinations, delivery of laboratory tests to patients. This will allow doctors to have a complete picture of the disease, the patient's he alth status, as well as the stage of the cancer.
- Surgery to remove the tumor should remain the priority treatment. After that, the use of immunotherapy is possible. This will significantly increase the patient's chances of recovery.
- The name of the drug, dosage and duration of the course is prescribed by the doctor individually for each patient.
- Treatment should be carried out in a hospital, under the supervision of doctors.
- It is unacceptable to abruptly interrupt treatment, this can lead to a significant decrease in immunity and an even greater development of the disease.
- During and after therapy, the patient should eat a large amount of vitamins and minerals to maintain the body's defenses.
- At the end of the course, doctors examine the patient to monitor the effectiveness of the treatment.
The benefits of immunotherapy
Immunotherapy is a fairly young cancer treatment. Despite this, she has already managed to prove herself, having a number of advantages.
- Prolonging life in patients with advanced cancer and metastases even in organs separated from the tumor.
- Immunotherapy for melanoma improves chances of recovery when surgery to remove the malignancy is not possible.
- Improve survival rates among cancer patients.
Disadvantages of immunotherapy for melanoma
As with any other cancer treatment, this therapy is not without its drawbacks. These include:
- Indirect (through the immune system) action. That is, drugs do not directly affect cancer cells.
- In high doses, interleukin-based drugs can cause multiple organ failure.
- Duration of treatment courses.
- The need for regular maintenance therapy. Otherwise, the disease will certainly recur.
- The inability to accurately predict the response of cancer cells to a given treatment. In about a third of cases, there is no effect. This is explained by the fact that there are no objective data on the characteristics of the immunity of each individual patient.
- Individual selection of dosing regimen based on numerous examinations of the patient.
- Prolonged use of drugs leads to suppression of the body's own immunity.
Conclusion
Currently, there are several ways to get rid of skin cancer. However, those patients who have been treated with immunotherapy for melanoma will have the greatest chance of recovery. Therefore, it is so important to make drugs more accessible to a wide range of patients as soon as possible. And maybe then the death rates from oncology (in particular from skin cancer) will decrease.
